Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Remembering My Dad...

My Father was a man that loved his Motherland.
He was born in Messina in 1925 and from infancy was raised in Cinquefrondi, Reggio Calabria.
He studied medicine and came to the United States...he left behind his parents his brother and his Motherland.
He met and married my Mother and they lived in New Jersey and raised my brother and I. My father always instilled in me a deep and profound love for the Motherland that oozes from our veins.
Aside from being an extremely skilled physician -my Father loved to write his thoughts and feeling on paper.
I wonder what he would have done if he had the pleasure of living long enough to have his own blog!
My Father passed away in 2002 at the age of 77.
Among the many memories he left us is a powerful collection of his thoughts and feelings...on paper!
I wanted to share one of his poems with you...
I hope you enjoy it! I hope it moves you as it moves me!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O Patria Mia
By Paolo Valvo

Italia, O Patria Mia
Madre feconda di si’ nobile parole,
Il tuo desio m’assale
Se la vision di te mi torna al cuore.

Vedo I tuoi monti austeri,
Il mare accarezzar le dolci sponde,
I vasti piani e laboriosi campi
Dove perenne par che v’ondeggi il grano.

Dall’alpi alla trinacria
Dall’una all’altra sponda
D’insigne tua progenie
L’opra sublime annonda,

E l’ecodella Gloria
Di tua Romana gente
Nell’aere spande
Qual luce che risplende,

Ovunque l’occhio vaghi
Bella tu sei o cara patria mia,
Bella nel corpo e l’alma,
Si dolce, si’ desiata Madre Mia!

Potessi ancora mirare
L’azzurro del tuo mare…
O potess’io vagare
Ancor sulle tue sponde…

E poi ancor mirare
Le cupole tue belle…
Sentir le tue campane
Scoccar nel cielo al vespro!

O Paria Mia Diletta
Pottesse l’esser mio’
Esser da te
Nel tiepido calor del grembo tuo!

Da si’lontana sponda
Spesso al guardar m’indulgo
Di la’dell orizzonte…
Ed il pensier di te
Carezza l’alma mia…

Il sussurrar m’e’ d’uopo:

O Cara Patria Mia!


© 2008 SMVALVO

3 comments:

'A Tuscan view.....from Umbria' said...

Hey Susan, your Dad sounds like he was a pretty amazing man, how wonderful to have such memories and beautiful poetry.

I have really enjoyed reading your blog your love of Italy comes through loud and clear. Pleased to meet you and thank you for the link. :)Amanda

Anonymous said...

I can think of two people that need to read your father's poem, my Dad (also from the Messina area) and my husband. Thanks for sharing that.

LuLu said...

Hi Susan, I wanted to drop you a quick comment to let you know how happy I am to have found your blog. Your love of Italy is something I can definitely relate to.

I wanted to comment specifically on this entry because I also lost my father (in 2007) and it was through him that I learned so much about my heritage and he is the reason I have had such a strong connection to it growing up. He also enjoyed writing as a hobby and we stumbled onto a couple of his poems shortly after he passed. The poems were written when he moved to Canada and expressed his love of his family and home in Italy. I thank God everyday for giving me this gift...it is a piece of his soul on paper that I can keep with me forever. It is a truly wonderful gift. Thank you so much for sharing your father's poem.

I look forward to reading more of your blog!! :)

Take Care,
LuLu